WSU Department of Theatre & Dance presents season opener

(9/12/2018)

The department of theater and dance at Winona State University (WSU) will present its season-opening production, “Gidion’s Knot,” by Johnna Adams at the Dorothy B. Magnus Black Box Theatre in the Performing Arts Center. The production is an Acting Capstone project for WSU senior Stephanie Trypuc.

According to the play’s publisher, Dramatist Play Service, Inc., “Over the course of a parent/teacher conference, a grieving mother and an emotionally overwhelmed primary school teacher have a fraught conversation about the tragic suicide of the mother’s son, Gidion. Gidion may have been bullied severely — or he may have been an abuser. As his story is slowly uncovered, the women try to reconstruct a satisfying explanation for Gidion’s act and come to terms with excruciating feelings of culpability.”

Reviews of the production note that the play “raises profound questions about parenting and education and documents the gut-wrenching force of maternal loyalty.”

WSU theater faculty member Heather Williams-Williams plays opposite of Trypuc in this 70-minute drama. This production is for mature audiences.

Performances of “Gidion’s Knot” are on Friday, September 14, and Saturday, September 15, at 7:30 p.m. The performances are free to WSU students, staff, and faculty, and $5 for the public.